Polavaram will submerge Rajahmundry : Expert
Saturday July 29 2006 14:02 IST

VIJAYAWADA: A National Institute of Hydrology-study on Polavaram project has warned that Rajahmundry city could get submerged if the project was constructed, according to noted environmentalist and former principal of Andhra University engineering college T Sivaji Rao.

Quoting a June 1999 study of the NIH, Rao told a gathering of experts and scientists attending a UGC-sponsored regional seminar on environmental pollution at Parvathaneni Brahmaiah Siddhartha College of Arts and Sciences here on Friday that the study had failed to see the light of the day for reasons better known to the rulers.

He also claimed that there were no detailed discussion on Polavaram project in the state.

He said the dam, which has a storage capacity of 196 lakh cusecs, could spell disaster for Rajahmundry and its surroundings. He suggested that the government could reduce the height of the Polavaram dam and thereby reduce the water storage capacity to 70 tmc.

He lamented that the engineers were following age-old dam designing patterns without taking into consideration present day technology.

The environmental engineer strongly advocated a public debate on the issue and wanted the engineering experts to come out openly about the problems with the present project design.

Sidhartha Academy president B Rama Rao presided over the meeting.

Acharya Nagarjuna University Vice-Chancellor V Balamohan Das, Academy vice-president BS Appa Rao, secretary Nalluri Venkateswaralu and seminar organising director K Saraswathi spoke.

The two-day seminar would provide an occasion for brainstorming for over 200 experts from various South Indian universities and research bodies. As many as 50 scientific papers would be presented at the seminar.